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Despite ourbest efforts, research, and intentions, there remain only a few narrow routesforward for our clean water project. Undaunted in our greater purpose, I’mhappy to offer some thoughts and challenges that threw the breaker, so tospeak, for Quench Lingira.

I can’tunderscore enough the consequences of naïveté when pursuing serious developmentprojects. In general, we focus on projects that are based on a one-timestrategic investment (social or financial) that can be monitored and calibratedas they progress. It was apparent very early that the scale of Quench farsurpassed our other projects and required a different kind of investment.Instead of building something or training someone, we intended to introduce atechnology and leave units in dozens of homes. There was no possibility of asubtle entrance, or exit, if we needed one. Though we carried some real cautionknowing this, our game plan for Quench came to be undermined by even realerbarriers on Lingira Island. Creating drinking water from a lake so imbued withhuman waste requires knowledge, time, and technology that we failed to possess.

The centralerror that occurred between EDGE and our host, SHIM, was disparate definitionsof an effective filter. In the short history of the ceramic water keg, it was“successful” in a Ghanaian implementation. While the population and householdhabits were better suited to the kegs there, the technology performed asexpected here, collecting around 97% of E. Coli bacteria at peak. If someonehas no means, such as chlorine drops or charcoal to boil water, that numberwould be a fantastic improvement on the lake water they currently drink.However, 97% effectiveness for kegs, or even the 98.5% for just a pot filterwill still result in occasional sickness. Therefore, both of these householdsystems pale— mildly, next to the community chlorination systems that SHIMpromotes in the region. They will achieve 100% safe water when operatedcorrectly. Ultimately, unless the kegs or pots were able to match that, wewould not have had our host’s full support. While we do owe them some credenceas our platform on Lingira, the merit of their efforts is such that, our bestcourse of action may be to not distract or interfere with their own waterprojects, though they are advancing ever slowly.

We continueto have the support of some key players, including Dr. Buzz Kloot of theUniversity of South Carolina, who is at the root of most of SHIM’s dozen, orso, water projects.  But, no matterhow things might be argued, a large-scale implementation of ceramic technologycan’t conflict with the NGO who has a year-round presence and a highlyencouraging track record with their “water ministry”. In conclusion, we wouldhave benefited greatly from a clear explanation of the acceptable criteria forfilters from Shepherd’s Heart. Still, I can in no way find them fully culpable,just as I won’t see our faults therein as the cause for pushing on in the faceof unseen hurdles.

The greatestfrustration in all of this, personally, is that we brought together family,friends, friends’ friends to try out this solution to the despair brought bydrinking unsafe water in Uganda, but never got to pull the trigger. As much asI hate failure, there is no failure worse than one I share with so many supporters.Upon getting home, we’ll be talking with globalgiving, where so many donated,and the Rockefeller Foundation, who matched your donations, to see what happensto the funds we raised. My guess is that if we give anything back, it would bethe matching funds from Rockefeller. Whether or not that happens, we willredirect all remaining funds to clean water on Lingira in one of several forms.Though the nearest to SHIM, Lingira Camp and Kyoya Camp are among the leastsuccessful implementations of SHIM’s systems and would benefit from anything wecan offer. If nothing else, we can financially support some of the SHIM waterteam’s admirable work. The 200 some ceramic pots remaining we hope toessentially donate to an NGO in a different region, with a better candidatecommunity to receive them.

So what havewe learned about our work? No matter how much we might will our approach to anissue to be the right solution, the complexities of human relationships andveiled realities may yet stand unmovingly on the road to development. But, as Imentioned earlier, the unfolding of this story hasn’t maimed our purpose, oreven the other projects we’ve implemented since our arrival. I’ll save thatgood news for another blogger, perhaps for when we can upload the hi-res photosthat document them. After an incredibly long five-weeks, we will be home in 6days, though we will leave the island this Saturday. Thanks for your supportand time while reading this update. I’d love to talk through it all afterreturning, so be in touch.

Paul Atwell